As last year’s top-of-the-line offering, TCL’s 2024 flagship TV, the QM8
The unit’s remote feels comfortable to hold at a rather narrow 1.25 inches wide. The keys are fully backlit and include a mic button for voice commands via Google. It also features shortcut buttons for Netflix, Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV, Pluto, and, of course, TCL+tv. Naturally, these are the default apps appearing on the home page of the TV’s interface. I found it curious that the TCL+tv app appeared twice in the list of available apps (instead of Apple TV or Pluto) — but it is a TCL television, after all.
Knowing very few people read the instructions for using a TV, I grabbed the remote and gave it an “intuition test” to see how quickly I could connect to the internet and get started. The QM8’s user interface is clean and straightforward, and it runs on the Google TV platform, an operating system that leans more minimal than feature-rich — a good thing, in my book. Overall, getting started was a fairly breezy process.
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Okay, I’ll get to the part about performance and picture quality.
The QM8 is a QLED TV with mini-LED backlighting, meaning it’s even brighter than most OLED models. In fact, the QM8 boasts up to 5,000 nits peak brightness, which is significantly higher than most of TCL’s competitors in the same price range. Many high-end TVs, including other mini-LED models, typically max out at around 2,000 nits.
Mini-LED TVs use an array of LEDs to create precise dimming zones, and with up to 5,000 local dimming zones, the QM8 offers superior contrast control. This high number of zones allows for more precise backlight modulation and deeper blacks.
For gamers, the QM8 has some attractive features. It supports up to 144Hz variable refresh rate at 4K resolution, which I’ve found very enjoyable when hooking a PlayStation 5 up with the TV. But it also has a “Game Accelerator 240” feature that can make gameplay seamless at 240Hz VRR — at the cost of gaming at half resolution 1080p. No less, combined with the inherent brightness and contrast in this model, the gaming experience is secretly one of the QM8’s best assets.
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The QM8’s Onkyo-designed speaker system has an 80-watt, 2.1.2-channel configuration — a notable improvement from the 2023 model, which had relatively puny 20-watt, 2.1-channel speakers. The new model includes two up-firing Dolby Atmos speakers positioned on the left and right sides of the frame. In addition to Dolby Atmos and DTS Virtual:X, the audio quality is certified as IMAX Enhanced.
Watching old episodes of Lost, I found the QM8’s sound crisp and bold. What I appreciate most is the TV’s auto volume control, which levels out sudden decibel boosts like explosions, especially pesky commercials.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Going for under $1,000 at the time of this writing, the TCL QM8